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Before Market I knew that I liked Alexander Henry, but I didn’t know much else about them. They have never had that big of a web presence, nor do they work with big-name designers, so it’s been hard to keep track of everything.

Now, after visiting their booth and meeting owners Nicole and Phillip de Leon, I am in LOVE and will be an AH devotee for the rest of my days. The sister and brother pair inherited the business from their father. They design all the fabrics themselves, hand-rendering the designs the old-school way. They work out of a former factory in Burbank in which they have carved out space for their toddlers to play. Someone told me that Phillip makes marionettes in his spare time (very Being John Malkovich!) Nicole talked about their new collections with my market buddy Ms. Green Kitchen and I, and she was so friendly, funny, and open. And of course, their fabrics and their whole style is just amazing — meeting them, taking in the atmosphere of the booth, and seeing all their designs together, I really understood what the company was all about.

I was really impressed with their “Fashion for Home” line, prints on 45″ wide, 8.7oz 100% cotton oxford. Above: “Carolina” (top) and “Heath” (bottom). Below, Nicole shows off Gazara, which she said is an animal print purposefully of no animal in particular.

And here is the super extra fabulous “Afternoon Delight”:

They keep the images of upcoming, not-yet-printed collections in these impressive, gigantic black portfolio/books — I couldn’t take pictures of those but I can assure you they’re worth the wait. Below are some samples from current AH collections. See more on Flickr here.

Love this post. I really like them too now, lol…
And this describes so well the differences between comapnies and people in them. I did read your post from Lecien…. SO different… isn’t it?
Lovely post anyway!

[...] Surprise! Half of Alexander Henry is female! Kim of True Up blog has posted a great article about the brother-and-sister team, Nicole and Phillip de Leon, who are the force behind Alexander Henry Fabrics. Unpretentious and wonderful! Before, I just loved the fabrics. Now I love the whole company. See if you agree. [...]